Treasurer's office still under microscope

The Robert Bobb Group plans on looking into the practices and procedures of the Treasurer's office.

John Adam Staff Writer @JohnAdam_PI

PETERSBURG — Though currently in the last month of their contract, the Robert Bobb Group plans on examining one more of the city’s offices: the Treasurer’s office.

“We know a lot already, “ said former Finance Director Nelsie Birch, who is with the Bobb Group. “We’ve been communicating with [the Treasurer’s office] since we walked in the door. The difference now getting full access into the systems and the processes going on behind the counters.”

City Council hired the Robert Bobb Group, which is a national consulting firm, in October 2016 to help turnaround city services.

During an interview at City Hall, Robert Bobb, Dileep Rajun, and Birch, all from the Robert Bobb Group, talked about taking a “deep dive” into the Treasurer’s office, to see where the collection problems have come from. The group plans on examining all the policies and procedures of the office, including rules on depositing money and documentation of payments.

“We don’t have any visibility as to how that office works,” said Rajun.

The Treasurer’s office has struggled with collecting city taxes for several years now. As of June of this year, the city is owed $10.8 million in past due real estate and personal property taxes that have gone uncollected: In February, it came to light that citizens’ payments weren’t being deposited in a timely manner, with stacks of checks and cash being left undeposited in the office. The City Council asked Treasurer Kevin Brown to step down in June. Although Brown declined to step down, he’s been on sick leave since August with health issues.

The Bobb Group’s relationship with Brown has been rocky at best. Several months ago, Brown said that the group “doesn’t really understand what we do here,” and that “[the Robert Bobb Group] acts like they’re our bosses when they’re not; they’re contractors.”

Brown, who has been in and out of the Treasurer’s office for the past month while on sick leave, said he had no knowledge that the Bobb Group was planning on looking at the office.

“I haven’t been notified,” said Brown. ”I really don’t know how you can dive into my office and not notify me about it.”

Brown said he has “had this kind of disconnect” with the Bobb Group since they started back in October of last year.

“I’m still a state-controlled office,” he said. “You can’t just do what you want.”

In part because of Brown’s absence and the lack of staff, the Bobb Group said the office is currently lacking direction.

“They have no leadership right now, and they’re looking for that,” said Birch.

Brown disputes these claims, saying he’s been working remotely and coming in periodically even though he is on sick leave, saying he is “doing what I need to do.”

Brown insists the problems his office has gone through are mainly caused by staffing, as the office often only has one cashier to deal with all citizens who come in to pay their bills. And because of all the issues with utility billing, citizens have had to sometimes wait for hours to get their payments sorted out.

“If you have the people, you can do the job,” said Brown. “Right now, there’s one teller to do the job.”

Regardless of the Bobb Group’s work, the Treasurer’s office is set to undergo a transformation. The City Council approved the creation of a city tax collector, who will be in charge of collecting all local tax revenues. This was in response to the large amount of taxes that have gone uncollected by the Treasurer’s office. The new collector will be under Finance Director Blake Rane. The Treasurer’s office will now be in charge of collecting just state taxes.

Though despite the oncoming changes, Birch noted city officials still need to examine what’s going on in the office.

“You have to know the delineation of responsibility,” said Birch. “It’s very technical in terms of who does what reconciliation.”

Bobb also talked about reorganizing the way the Treasurer’s office and the Utility Billing office are structured. Though the Treasurer’s office collects utility payments, the offices are in separate buildings. Citizens who have issues with their utility bills are often bounced around the offices.

“The way it works now is: you can pay your utility bill [in the Treasurer’s office], but if you have an issue you have to go to the utility office,” said Bobb.

The team hopes to put both offices in City Hall, which would make it easier for both offices to communicate.

The group plans on presenting their findings to the City Council on October 2.

• John Adam may be reached at jadam@progress-index.com or 804-722-5172.

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